NEW YORK –  With five in double figures, the 11th-seeded Georgetown University men's basketball team pulled off the 78-64 upset over the #3 Villanova University Wildcats in the quarterfinals of the 2026 BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep on Thursday night. With the win at Madison Square Garden, the Hoyas improve to 16-17 on the year while Villanova finishes the tournament with a 24-8 record. The Hoyas move on to the semifinals to face the #2 UConn Huskies, tabbed No. 6 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll, on Friday evening.
 
ON THE RECORD
"We need to advance by any way and means, just continue to advance, however we do it. I thought it was back-to-back days. I think our defense, once again, was tough. I thought we connected. I thought we had incredible leadership all over the court. Everybody that stepped on the court participated in helping us win … So just really proud of how connected we've been over the last two days defensively, and I think when you guard, offense becomes a little bit easier, a lot easier, and we were able to make some threes today as last night we only made three threes. I haven't seen the stat sheet, but I know we made more than three today as Kayvaun made back-to-back shots, which I thought was really game, set, match in that situation." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
"Those two first baskets definitely helped, but I think the rest of the game I just trusted my guards to make the right play, and they trusted me with the ball, and I just happened to make shots, and so, yeah." - Julius Halaifonua on his confidence
 
"Halftime. It was our speech. All the teammates, all of us gathered together. Just like you guys said about the turnovers, we acknowledged that as well. We said we got to trust each other, and no regrets. We didn't come this far to come this far. We got a couple seniors on our team. We don't want it to be their last game, so we're also playing for them." - Kayvaun Mulready on what broke the game open
 
"We just had to settle in, settle down, and that was a big focal point in the second half, and adjustments, just make sure we get a shot up every time. We were doing a good job rebounding the ball, and our only miscues were just giving them the ball and not getting a shot up. So attention to detail and making a good adjustment and settling down in the second half." - Jeremiah Williams on turnover adjustments
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Julius Halaifonua scored 21 points on an efficient 75.0% (9-12) performance from the field to lead a quintet of Hoyas in double figures. He also snagged a career-high 10 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double.
• Kayvaun Mulready scored 14 points off the bench on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, 3-for-3 from deep and 1-for-1 at the charity stripe.
• Jeremiah Williams also tallied 14 points on 6-for-14 shooting while Malik Mack added 12 points on four made field goals, including a trio of treys.
• Caleb Williams rounded out those in double figures with 11 points on 66.6% (4-6) shooting and a 50.0% (2-4) performance from beyond the arc.
• Helping Halaifonua on the glass, Jayden Fort and Mulready came off the bench to each grab eight rebounds while Isaiah Abraham pulled down seven.
• Mack and J. Williams paced the Hoya offense, dishing out six assists each.
• For the game, Georgetown shot 50.8% (30-59) and 40.0% (8-20) from deep.
• The Blue & Gray outrebounded the Wildcats 46-25, including 16 offensive boards.
• The Hoyas scored 17 points off second-chance opportunities and dominated in the paint with 36 points.

 
WILDCAT HIGHLIGHTS

• Duke Brennan led a trio of Wildcats in double figures with 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field, followed by Tyler Perkins with 13 points and Bryce Lindsay's 11 points.
• Brennan pulled down six boards to lead Villanova on the glass.
• Acaden Lewis, Chris Jeffrey and Brennan paced the Wildcat offense with three assists apiece.
• Villanova shot 37.7% (23-61), 24.1% (7-29) from beyond the arc and 78.6% (11-14) at the charity stripe.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Villanova got on the board first with a pair of buckets but Halaifonua got the Hoyas on track early, reeling off six unanswered on his own with a dunk sandwiched between a pair of layups to give GU the early advantage. J. Williams added a bucket to take the 8-4 advantage.
• Trading buckets, it was another Halaifonua jumper that pushed the Blue & Gray ahead 12-8 before a five-point spurt from the Wildcats gave VU its first lead of the game. C. Williams came up with the answer on the other end, draining a 3-pointer to put GU back up 15-13.
• However, a 14-3 Nova run put the Wildcats up nine (27-18) with 7:52 to play. A Mack trey stopped the bleeding to make it a two-possession game but turnovers continued to hurt the Hoyas as a Nova dunk off a GU turnover pushed the lead back to eight (29-21).
• Halaifonua scored six straight to pull the Hoyas within a possession before the final media timeout of the frame and a Mack free throw made it a one-point game as the Blue & Gray held Villanova scoreless for 4:55 before a bucket gave the 'Cats some breathing room.
• Georgetown closed the half on a 7-0 run with Mack sinking a trey before Mulready took his first shot of the night, draining a 3-pointer off the glass and drawing the foul. He sank his free throw to provide the 35-31 halftime score.
• The Hoyas extended the run to 9-0 with a Halaifonua dunk to open the second frame. The Hoyas pulled ahead by seven (41-34) on an Isaiah Abraham layup but the 'Cats clawed back, trimming the deficit to one (47-46) with 13:33 on the clock. A layup from J. Williams followed by a Jayden Fort dunk off the Halaifonua dish gave the Blue & Gray some breathing room.
• The Wildcats made it a two-point game but a 10-2 run sparked by four from J. Williams gave the Hoyas its first double-digit lead of the game.
• A Villanova bucket cut it to single digits with 6:58 to play but the Hoyas responded with back-to-back Mulready triples from the right side within 20 seconds of each other to put GU up 14 and force Villanova to call its final timeout with 5:32 remaining. Georgetown cruised to the 78-64 victory.

 
OF NOTE

• Georgetown is the second No. 11 seed in the history of the BIG EAST Tournament to reach the semifinals, joining the 2004 Villanova squad.
• It's the first time four charter members of the BIG EAST advance to the semifinals since 1994 when Providence, UConn, Georgetown and Seton Hall all made it.
• With 21 points, Halaifonua registered his fourth 20+ point game and the first since he scored 20 against Coppin State on December 22, 2025.

 
HOYAS x THE BIG EAST TOURNAMENT

• Georgetown improves to 59-38 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament with its second win as the 11th seed. GU is 7-2 against Villanova in BET action and improve to 24-12 in the quarterfinals and 10-3 against the #3 seed.
• The Hoyas now face second-seeded UConn. The Blue & Gray is 2-6 all-time against the Huskies in the BIG EAST Tournament with the last matchup occurring in the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament when the eighth-seeded Hoyas fell 79-62 in the second round to the ninth-seeded Huskies.
• The last win for the Hoyas against UConn in the BIG EAST Tournament was in 1991 in the quarterfinals, when sixth-seeded Georgetown defeated the #3 UConn, 68-49. Georgetown advanced to the championship game, falling to #4 Seton Hall in the finals.
• GU is 14-9 all-time in the semifinals and 3-5 against the #2 seed.
• In three matchups between UConn and Georgetown in the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals, the Hoyas have yet to win one.
• In the all-time series against the Huskies, Georgetown trails 42-36 with UConn on a 12-game win streak.
• Cooley is 4-13 all-time against UConn and sits at 8-10 against UConn Head Coach Dan Hurley.

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown returns to action on Friday, March 13 in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals in New York. The 11th-seeded Hoyas will face second-seeded UConn, tabbed No. 6 in the country in the most recent rankings. Tipoff at the World's Most Famous Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Gus Johnson calling the play-by-play, Jim Jackson providing analysis and Alison Williams reporting from the sidelines. The game can be heard locally on Team 980 as well as on the SiriusXM app with Rich Chvotkin, in his 52nd season as the Voice of the Hoyas, calling the action.